Neither the business nor writing the weekly reports is really fun at the moment. Somehow everything seems frozen and inhibited and this is probably also due to the fact that neither the hide suppliers nor the tanners have a really clear idea of the current situation and the development in the coming months. Opinions are varied and essentially shaped by interests and individual situations. Actually, the situation is relatively normal for the time of year. Very often, the first quarter was characterised by great confidence, good demand and high production. As a result, raw material stocks usually emptied, and the more the stocks emptied, the faster the confidence for the further market development increased among slaughterers and suppliers. With the end of the quarter and the rise in temperatures in the northern hemisphere, confidence also disappeared in many places with the winter and the markets took a different direction than had been expected shortly before. This could also be applied to this year, and if it were correct in terms of content, there would only be the big difference that obviously stocks were not continuously reduced in the first quarter. This may not have been the case for one or the other type of goods, but across the board inventories probably rose rather than fell. This is probably not only true for many hide suppliers, but also for the tanners one has the impression that stocks of semi-finished and finished goods are significantly higher than desired. The sales talks this week were very slow. Only isolated and very selective enquiries came

from Asia and in the end only better qualities could be seriously traded at discounted prices. The weaker US dollar also did not help to improve the calculation. Price reductions are still within narrow limits, but every day one hears new rumours about sellers who have become much more price flexible than recently. However, we see the real problem in the fact that obviously not so much the price is in the foreground. The tanners in China also seem to be suffering from a lack of orders and are reacting differently than we are used to. Normally, price is always the holy of holies and if it is only cheap enough, people will buy. At the moment, however, it looks like even cheap prices don’t really lead to more buying. This is unusual and, if we are correct, simply reflects the uncertainty about leather orders in the coming months. At the same time, many report that large wetblue inventories are also weighing on many tanners in China. Otherwise, talks about the regular monthly programs in Europe are slowly starting. Here, too, the talks are not easy, but here, too, most tanners are obviously lacking corresponding leather orders across the entire range. Here, too, one can literally feel that the price is important, but also not the core problem in the current situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kill

The kill continues at a stable pace. In the next two weeks the quantities will certainly decrease significantly, because the two public holidays on Friday and the following Monday alone automatically reduce the quantities. In addition, the cold stores are well stocked at the moment and apparently they are taking the opportunity to reduce production a little, because the meat that the supermarkets need can be delivered from the warehouse without any problems. Perhaps they also want to reduce livestock prices with the reduced kill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do we expect

It is no secret that we are not particularly optimistic about the second quarter. It is possible that prices will bob along for another month with little change, but the pressure to make a general decision before the summer is mounting. As long as no one gets nervous and there is no emergency, no one really has much interest in prices changing significantly, despite the tradition that seller always want much more and buyers much less. Even though the wishes for the hides market have almost never come true, a controlled and slow decline in prices over the next few months would probably be in everyone’s interest and serve the situation.